This is EXACTLY What Will Happen to You!!

Hey, kids, it’s the Botching one pseudo taking over for our Queen. She’s under the weather a bit so I’m kind of taking over here where she started. Everything that comes from me will be in italics like this is. In some cases, I took over from Queen’s notes. In others, it’s all me. The crown rankings are all mine. This was a fun episode of the show and I enjoyed most of it as I almost always do. Let’s get into it!

Ciampa’s Gonna Kill You

Well that was short! Ciampa quickly destroyed Garza without much ring rust or difficulty. This was a job match – pure and simple and that’s what I expected given that Ciampa is just coming back and he needed someone to mow over real quick. The standoff between Ciampa and the UE was great. The subtle dropping of the USB drive to Mauro from O’Reilly was well done too.

Dream Over?

I’m rarely a fan of an attack that’s completely unseen unless there is a reason for it. We didn’t see any of the abuse on Dream, just his body laid out as it was. I feel like we missed a big part of what should have been in the show. NXT is two hours now, they have some time. Even if they showed only the very end, I feel like we didn’t get anything because they didn’t show us anything! I absolutely loved every bit of this. Given what we now know, Dream needed to be written off to deal with a back injury. This was the best way to do it. Also, it makes UE looks completely merciless in a way that they didn’t before. I will say that Roderick, as always, looked completely and utterly forced. He just can’t be real. I give up…LOL!

ONEY & DANNY w/ THE OTHER GUYS!

This is the first time Imperium didn’t feel like a bad musical group – WALTER And Those Other Guys. Aichner and Barthel looked really good in the ring and played better with Burch and my dear Lorcan than I thought they would. I really enjoyed the chemistry in the ring, though I felt a bit like I was watching a group of siblings fight in the ring. They all have a similar look, boring ring gear, and can work that ring so well.

Embryotic Cancer

The title came from what Mauro said about Carter. He comes out with things that leave me shaking my head. I will say Carter is seriously athletic, but green. She looked a bit sloppy in there. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t dangerous, but there were a few isues that will be cleaned up with time and training. She could have a huge career if she continues on the path she’s on.

Io is wonderful! I love watching her in the ring. Ever since she turned heel, she’s become downright sadistic and I love every second of it. She’s just insanely good every time out.

The face-off at the end between Io & Rhea was amazing. Rhea has “it” – buckets full of it. I get the feeling she’s going to be the one to take the title from Shayna.

Brutal Beating

I guess it’s okay that we didn’t see the attack on Dream if they are selling it as that brutal, but I hope there are repercussions for UE from it.

I love seeing Regal, he’s been a favorite of mine since I first saw Lord Steven Regal in WCW. The only thing that bothers me is that with him as GM of NXT we don’t get his wonderful little comedic comments that made him a fave of mine. I’m just going to slip this in here, if you can find and send me a link to the clip of Regal backstage talking about his twins – don’t recall if it was on Raw or SD, or even what year it was – I’ll buy you a WR shirt. The stip being added to Dijacovic and Lee makes me very happy. Can’t wait!

Bask 33 ⅓: Fight Forever

That was the worst straight arm lift I’ve ever seen. I just wasn’t feeling the lift as he was more holding Dom up by his abdomen than his arm. I do like that he continues working the arm through the match, very old school in the best of ways. That ‘frog’ splash on the arm was scary to watch. I put the frog in quotes because in the DD they were contemplating what the splash was because it was so much bigger than a frog. Further his strength in this match was sick, though I’ll admit that Mauro’s screaming took some of the greatness from the entire match. Honestly I don’t know how Lee didn’t break his neck in one of the reversals in this match. It looked too dangerous for me.

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t comment on Lee’s ring gear. When Mark Henry came to the ring wearing a white singlet and soaked to the bone, there was almost nothing left to the imagination. Ellie was a teenager at that point and was mortified each time Henry came to the ring like that. Lee’s ring gear in this match wasn’t as bad as Henry’s, but bad enough that I felt a bit dirty watching this match at times.

I absolutely LOVED this match as I have all the others (even the ones they fought on the indie scene). These two know each other so well and they show OUT every single time. This one was no exception. They both flew around when they absolutely shouldn’t be able to and their chemistry is just incredible. Absolutely everything looked incredibly impactful and that helps to sell the match. Dijakovic had Lee in an Electric Chair…and then Lee turned it into a Rana!!! What?!?!? Only these two guys in NXT can have a match like this and I could watch it countless times and not get bored with it. To use Mauro’s words, “they tear it down” every single time. Mauro was a lot but the match was so good, I literally forgot Mauro was there.

I loved the sniveling way Strong interfered to try to eliminate them both as possible opponents and the way Regal just seethed when he told him he’d now have to face them BOTH. HA! The bad guy gets his comeuppance and who doesn’t like that? Classic storytelling. Wonder how Lee & Dijakovic will get screwed next week. Man, this was fun!

Bro…

This is really Bronson’s first shot in there and he did really well. Of course, he was there to job but it was no squash as that wouldn’t have been believable. Bronson’s a big boy and Riddle sold the damage he took really well. I can’t quite believe that he lifted him up for the Bro To Sleep. Also loved the pound at the end of the match.

This Gon’ Be Fun…!

She sells arrogance so well. I love Bianca Belair abidingly but she need something to do. Hopefully, they’ll give her something sooner than later.

Rust is NOT Going to Be A Factor

Nox hit at really high and painful-looking cannonball on Taynara that seemed to force all the air out of Taynara’s body. I cringe seeing Tegan in there with two bulky knee braces on. I respect her tenacity to want to come back I hope she doesn’t dearly pay for this as she ages. She is a hair slower than she was, though she’s still quite good. Taynara did quite well in there and made it competitive. I do love Tegan’s Shinest Wizard. She’ll need to be careful with it because of those braces but it’s fun to see it.

Yer Runnin’ Outta Limbs to Rehab

I don’t like that Shayna came out the way she did, talked smack, then she and her bookends left without throwing anything other than a few comments at Nox and Kai.

I absolutely loved every bit of this. Shayna was absolutely menacing like she always is. She’s gone through everyone and she spoke hard truth. She’s definitely gone through Dakota in the past so that was true too. She’s a supreme bully and her goons have great personality too. I also loved how Shayna just dismissed Tegan by telling her she hadn’t earned a title shot. More truth; she hasn’t.

My Future Will Be My Past

Serviceable promo for sure. It whets our appetite for what comes next. I’ll take it.

No Trace of Mercy

Boa did what he could (and showed some real aggression) but, of course, they’re hot on Dain so Dain was going to go over. We got a heaping helping of Dain’s viciousness here and I’m always here for that. He gave poor Boa multiple Vader bombs and they all looked just sadistic.

Razor Focus

Dunne’s joint manipulation is so cringe! AAH! It’s great for storytelling so I get it but I kinda look away some times because of how sadistic Dunne is with it. I absolutely love the way Priest sells. The former Punishment Martinez has such an expressive face – much like Dean Moxley (HA!) A lot of Dunne’s reactive ability is hampered by his mouthguard. In fact, all wrestlers that wear them have the same issue in that regard.

Still, the ring work here by both was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed this match. They were merciless with each other and it was great. They even got “fight forever” chants throughout. I would have been fine with that. The screwy finish was fun too. It’s not done that way often and I liked it.

See what I mean? What’s to complain about? If you haven’t seen this, you should! I absolutely loved this and can’t wait for Strong/Lee/Dijakovic next week. See you then!